Jason Leopold in Gitmo
My friend Jason Leopold spent a surreal week at Guantanamo Bay and joined me on the show this morning to talk about it. Although he wrote about some aspects of the trip for truthout.org, including this piece on the censoring of what was happening inside the pre-trial hearings, our discussion was quite fascinating and far-reaching.
I opened the show with a few minor observations about the SuperBowl, most notably a couple of commercials I enjoyed — The Clydesdales, Amy Poehler for Best Buy, and (Victoria Jones’ favorite) the Doritos Goat 4 sale — and the funniest tweets from the Super Bowl blackout.
And finally, it’s Monday, which means Crooks & Liars‘ Nicole Belle joins in for Fools on the Hill- they watch the Sunday talking head shows so we don’t have to. Today, she’s tired…
I’m tired. I’m tired of ridiculous Beltway extremists preventing real, honest discussions about the nation’s problems.
Want to know a secret I don’t think Roger Ailes wants you to know? I think Chris Wallace is tired too. That’s why he couldn’t have been more incredulous with NRA president Wayne LaPierre once again invoked President Obama’s daughters having protection as a rationalization against banning military-style assault rifles.
To his further credit, Wallace also gave Gabby Giffords’ husband Mark Kelly the last word in response to LaPierre. Kelly’s message: start listening to your membership and get on board with background checks.
Paul Krugman is also tired of the gun debate. He calls the NRA leadership an “insane” organization and scoffs at the vision they paint that “we’re living in a Mad Max movie.”
I’m also really tired of having on talking heads without disclosing their connections to others. Why would Candy Crowley ask former Bush Cabinet member and wife of Senator Mitch McConnell Elaine Chao to disparage about Obama’s leadership?
And since yesterday was the Super Bowl (and my hometown team lost in a gut-wrenching game), I think it’s worth mentioning that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is still not willing to admit the link between brain injuries suffered in the sport and serious and sometimes fatal issues players have later on in life. How many more tragedies like Junior Seau and Jovan Belcher do we need to have before we have an adult conversation about brain injuries?
Elaine Chow whining the same old line of the dems held both houses for 2 years of Obamas term, Hogwash, they had a filibuster proof majority for only a few days, and that was only if they watered it down enough to get Leiberman to vote with them